𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗹+𝗶𝗻𝗴. haechan

chp. 41

TEXT ME BACK

"I can't wait to find out who my soulmate is! Sucks that my birthday is so far." Haewon sulked, gripping tightly onto the clothed pillow in her lap.

Jihye was currently hanging out at her best friend's house, planning to sleep over - it was nearly 11pm.

The two sat on the pink-covered double bed, in some comfortable clothes as they gossiped about their lives - a few packets of snacks laying on the bedside table. Jihye laid with her stomach flat onto the sheets, her legs resting upwards as she watched Haewon talk.

"Have you not met your soulmate since it turned capital letters? Doesn't that mean you'll die?" The Kang questioned in a tone that turned more concerned by the word.

The Park laughed aloud, finally feeling a sense of freedom when she is with her best friend. "I should have you told you this earlier, but... my soulmate and I see each other every week, basically." She informed, grabbing a packet of chips from the side. 

Haewon's mouth dropped, shocked at how much progress her best friend was making with her soulmate. She moved her hands into a 'continue on' motion, signalling for Jihye to progress her sudden talk.

Jihye continued to speak, not realising how the edges of her lips started to lift up as she spoke and thought about the Lee. 

"You're smiling! Who is this kissy person of yours?" The Kang teased while pointing her finger to the other's direction.

Jihye immediately dropped her smile - not wanting to make it seem like she was down bad for this 'kissy person'. "I'll tell you when it's time." She winked, irritating the groaning female. 

Taking a bite of the chips in her hands, the Park felt a short vibration on the side of her resting figure. She placed the chips down and reached for her phone beside her body - it was a call from her leader. Haewon watched as she picked up the phone, waving her hands to gesture that she can go outside and talk.

Jihye nodded with a slight smile, putting the phone to her ears as she got up and exited the room behind her.

"Yes, Kun? What's up?"

"Hey Jihye. Sorry to disturb whatever you're doing- But, can you come to the base now? Like immediately?"

"Oh? Sure, I guess. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. Just that Taeyong and his team decided to have a last minute meeting so I invited them over. See you."

"See you."

She waited for Kun to hang up the call as she sighed, she wanted to sleep over at Haewon's house since she didn't want to return home any time soon.

Walking back into the bed room, "I'm so sorry Haewon. Something came up, I have to go home as soon as possible." The Park frowned, her posture deescalating as she trudged back onto the bed to pack up her stuff.

Fortunately, Haewon understood that she probably had some problems at home - aware of the relationship between her and her parents.

"It's okay! No need to worry."

Jihye threw her bag over her shoulders, bidding a lasting goodbye to Haewon, also making sure to say 'bye' to her parents while heading down the stairs.

Using her new driving skills through the night, she was able to arrive back to the base in no time. 

Using her keys to enter the huge mansion, she dropped her bag at the front door and trailed to the main meeting room in the floor above. She realised how empty the base was, but hearing a few audible sounds coming from the room above.

Entering the meeting room, she met eyes with many men, the members from both her own and NCT. She politely bowed as she entered, awkwardly smiling before taking a seat next to Hendery. 

Unintentionally, she ended up sitting right across Haechan - somewhat pleased when seeing his face.

"Alright, I guess we can start now." Kun announced, nodding to the male next to him.

"Focusing back to Acid and the disappearance of Kim Junho, we have found a suspicion of either him or one of his men. An unknown number has consistently been contacting our member, Mark at the same time - 11pm every day. The messages are abnormal and confusing." Taeyong paused and turned his head over to the projector over his head that displayed screen shots of the messages that Mark has been receiving. The members each took a quick scan of the messages. "We suspect that this contact number could possibly be Kim Junho or one of his men that work for him. Messages like 'Have you thought about it?' or 'It's nearly too late, see you soon." appear often at the specific time of the day."

Mark was another male that sat beside his leader, "I ignored it at first and have not responded. But this could be an indication to find him at 11pm. However, we don't know where or what day. The phone number also includes a date of his younger brother's birthday, Kim Junseo."

As Taeyong continued to explain and then soon moved onto his plan if Acid does plan to attack, Mark felt a pulse from the pocket of his jeans. He knew it could be disrespectful to suddenly pull out his phone during a meeting, but he just had to make sure who it was.

Expectedly, it was a message from the same unknown number, possibly Kim Junho. 

The younger Lee tapped lightly onto Taeyong's shoulder, making him pause in his speech. Examining the text carefully, he read it aloud.

"'Open the door'. The same contact had just sent him that. It also just hit 11pm."

I'm so behind on chapters like I used up all my drafts...